Hi - New Driver and New A2 owner here...

ReaGeorge

ReaGeorge

Member
Hi everyone,

I recently started learning to drive (a bit late at 29 but have lived in the city for most of my adult life which is not conducive to car ownership) and started thinking about what car I would like for a first. The A2 popped into my head as I had worked with someone who had one some years ago and I quite liked it, especially the removable seats making for a great mini mini van which is great for someone who often needs to lug A/V equipment around but still wants a small car.

I found it quite difficult to find one in my area that I liked and at a price that made sense for me but finally found this 1.6 FSI SE, 120k miles on the clock and picked it up for £1000.

20200820_115646 copy.jpg


As is expected it's not perfect and I'm slowly finding all the little things that need tending to (I've already ordered a new Check Strap for the Drivers door from @depronman here on this forum, looking forward to receiving it)

  • New front tired need fitting - The tires on there are 195/45/16 - This is a different size to what's written on the Fuel Flap... should I replace with the size stated on the fuel flap or replace with same as is on the wheels at the moment?

  • The assembly between the oil cap and the engine is a bit loose, as shown in the video below, is this something I can easily fix?

  • The gear stick doesn't pop into the middle position from 2nd properly which is a bit of a nuisance. Does this mean I need to replace the shift tower spring?​

  • The most pressing matter is that I have the code P0597 showing up on the OBDII scanner (Thermostat Heater Control Open Circuit). Does this mean I should replace my Thermostat along with its housing that contains the 2 pole connector and is this something I can do myself? Was thinking to order this part as a replacement: Coolant Thermostat With Housing

Unfortunately, it also seems like the CD player and Tape player aren't working, only the radio, so I suppose I'll buy a little radio transmitter to listen to my own music.

It's been a little tricky getting used to driving it, my instructors' car will move off using only the power of the engine off the clutch, whereas the A2 seems to need a lot more throttle to get it going and prevent it from stalling.

It sounds all bad ? but apart from all this (although I'm sure there's more to find) I really like the car I just need to get used to it and get it running smoothly.

Would really appreciate your input especially on the error code and any other tips you might have. I look forward to being part of the A2 community hopefully for a good while.
 
Welcome on board, fsi's are great fun, but can test even the most patient of owners(I too have one), but when running right they are brilliant engines.
I'm sure others will soon be along with their advice on your little niggles, I'm rushed for time at the moment, but thought a quick hello wouldn't go amiss!!!
 
Welcome @ReaGeorge.

An excellent first post, you have been clearly doing your homework reading on here. Good news, you paid about the right price as long the FSI does not turn out to riddled with notorious FSI issues, but still expect a lot of normal service costs unless the seller has recently covered these, but unlikely.

Not much time now and anyway it is probably best if I address your points of concern in separate posts as time allows, if nobody else does first.

Andy
 
First, your tyre size concern with 195/45/16.

Your tyre size is not listed on my filler flap either but I think you are okay with it. Looking at the definitive thread on this subject started by Bret, he has your size as Audi approved and I doubt if he is wrong. Comment anyone?

The definitive tyre / wheel size thread

Wheels: Sizes of wheels that will fit an A2 (non 3l! - the 3L was not sold in the UK and therefore not covered here) Widths and diameters 5.5 - 7J, 15, 16, 17, 18". 7.5J works for some, not for others. Check for signs of argument on the wheelarch liners. 8J is really pushing it and frequently...
www.a2oc.net

Wheel size/style/tyre size/tyre make/tyre spec are wide and varied, if you have a spare day read the thread and look at the wheel picture thread! It boils down to personal preference, budget and individual ride concerns. Be aware if you move to non Audi approved size wise to inform your insurance company.

My recommendation if you are happy with the existing ride they give no need to do anything, but when you need to replace tyres buy the best your budget will stretch to.

Andy
 
Andrew said:
My recommendation if you are happy with the existing ride they give no need to do anything, but when you need to replace tyres buy the best your budget will stretch to.

Andy
Click to expand...

Thanks, Andy

If it's on the list I'm happy, I was having a bit of a look at the options I have locally, I want to get something decent but also don't want to break the bank. I was thinking of going with the Yokohama V701
 
Hi Rea
I’m just coming to the end of the first year of A2 and FSI ownership. People will tell you it can take 2 years to get an older car running right/how you want it and they are right!
So into my 2nd year and I will do a bit more to get it how I want it to be.

The thing with your gear selector not moving to neutral properly may be a simple fix, I say that as I’ve just had mine fixed if the same problem, the gears were so arkward, you had to really feel for them but my garages fixed it whilst it was in for mot and service and they didn’t even charge me for it so it must of been simple!

On your thermostat job, this could become expensive if like me your garage only uses genuine parts not at special offer prices. See what’s wrong with it first but make sure it doesn’t over heat or is low on coolant. If it is your thermostat/housing I have still got my old one which was replaced as it was leaking but functioning fine in every other sense, maybe you could make a good unit between them.

Tire size, I would replace with the recommended size. Some insurances will look for any way out if it came to it and apparently car manufacturers put a lot of research into that type of stuff, says me on 17’s and sport suspension. And yes, best quality you can.

They become pets!

Phi FSI
 
'And why does your A2 look like a toy parked outside a dolls house?? '

I believe it may be a product of the 'Portrait' camera setting on an iPhone where the depth of field can be adjusted to create such effects..
 
Next as it is your most pressing concern the thermostat fault.

First some questions.

1. Does the yellow EML illuminate briefly at start up?
2. Does the EML illuminate all the time when driving?
3. Does the dash temperature gauge reach a rock solid 90 °C?

I would echo Mac' suggestion of getting a VCDS scan to give a fuller picture. Garages tend to charge anywhere between £40 and £120 for scan , although sometimes free thinking it may generate custom, but as commented you possibly could obtain a scan from one the members of our new 'Free Scan Register' in the diagnostics subforum, there is a member reasonably close.

If a new thermostat turns out to be needed then your linked eBay item has the correct part number but I take issue with the seller's description of 'Thermostat Housing', that is the thermostat, the thermostat housing is a quite different animal. I would be wary of buying unbranded, the phrase 'buy cheap buy twice' springs to mind, for comparison the Audi price is somewhere round £90. I do have evidence the original thermostat Audi used on the FSI was made by Mahle, I would go for that at a price half way between Audi and your linked item.

'Is this something I can do myself?' you ask. Only basic tools required but I warn you it is a pig of a job due to access, buried round the back of the engine block AND under the inlet manifold, not a job for a novice but you may be experienced? There is also a real danger of damaging the thermostat housing and replacing that which is a much bigger job with more cost. I had to replace mine and looked at the job, could only just see it with a mirror!, chickened out, my back would not be up to it, even though I have a modicum of experience and left it to my mechanic. Unlike me you are young and If you decide to give it a go I can link two detailed different approaches

Andy.
 
@ReaGeorge I have 2 FSI's, picked one up yesterday. The oil filler necks on both have movement, like yours, but it's not a job I have got round to yet!
Make sure you run on 99ron fuel, and a bottle of injector cleaner is worthwhile. Put the injector cleaner in when about 1/4 full then take ot for a good run.
One of mine is running a ProBoost ECU from @A2Steve, so am going to swap it into my latest acquisition to gauge any improvement.
I would look up gear cable setting on this forum. It's a simple job and has improved gearchanges on all my A2's. To lock the gear lever I bought a 5mm nail from BnQ!
Tyre size is fine, as long as they're all that size!
Welcome and happy motoring. Once socials resume look forward to you joining us.

Sent from my SM-N960F using Tapatalk
 
Thanks so much for all the replies so far, very much appreciated.

Phil FSI said:
The thing with your gear selector not moving to neutral properly may be a simple fix, I say that as I’ve just had mine fixed if the same problem, the gears were so arkward, you had to really feel for them but my garages fixed it whilst it was in for mot and service and they didn’t even charge me for it so it must of been simple!

On your thermostat job, this could become expensive if like me your garage only uses genuine parts not at special offer prices. See what’s wrong with it first but make sure it doesn’t over heat or is low on coolant. If it is your thermostat/housing I have still got my old one which was replaced as it was leaking but functioning fine in every other sense, maybe you could make a good unit between them.
Click to expand...

That's hopefully about the gear selector, fingers crossed they can see to it when I get it serviced and MOT in November.

With the error code I have, I'm quite convinced it must be the thermostat or the connection to it. The dash seems to read a stable 90 when running and I don't seem to be losing any coolant.

Was the leak on yours in the housing then? If the thermostat and the electrical connection are good it may be helpful... Of course, I don't know, I'd be interested to know if others think it could be worth a try. ❓

Phil FSI said:
And why does your A2 look like a toy parked outside a dolls house?? ?
Click to expand...

HAHA - it must be the background blur effect, I thought it looked cool ?

Andrew said:
Next as it is your most pressing concern the thermostat fault.

First some questions.

1. Does the yellow EML illuminate briefly at start up?
2. Does the EML illuminate all the time when driving?
3. Does the dash temperature gauge reach a rock solid 90 °C?
Click to expand...

The EML was not illuminated when I bought it. Noticed it came on a few days after (of course) but it is not consistent.

I'll need to pay closer attention to it next time I run it but as far as I think I've noticed the temp gauge will warm up gradually then be stable at 90.

Andrew said:
I would echo Mac' suggestion of getting a VCDS scan to give a fuller picture. Garages tend to charge anywhere between £40 and £120 for scan , although sometimes free thinking it may generate custom, but as commented you possibly could obtain a scan from one the members of our new 'Free Scan Register' in the diagnostics subforum, there is a member reasonably close.
Click to expand...

Would this work to do a VCDS scan? - I'm kicking myself a bit since I picked up a veepeak OBDII device thinking that would be able to diagnose things. I'll drop a message to the member closest to me as well and see if that's possible.
 
Good Afternoon,

You said..

"The EML was not illuminated when I bought it. Noticed it came on a few days after (of course) but it is not consistent.

I'll need to pay closer attention to it next time I run it but as far as I think I've noticed the temp gauge will warm up gradually then be stable at 90."

You have answered my question 1, so many FSIs have the EML disabled by fraudulent sellors to hide faults, not in your case which is good.

Yes, take note of the EML behaviour and report back.

From cold the FSI should take 10 minutes to reach 90 °C in a fairly traffic free drive, time it but watch the road!

As long as no scary flashing red thermometer with beeps appear on the dash I think there is no rush to do anything yet about the thermostat, if it does, stop and let the engine cool down for an hour, check coolant level, better than causing expensive head problems.

Andy
 
You said..

"Would this work to do a VCDS scan? - I'm kicking myself a bit since I picked up a veepeak OBDII device thinking that would be able to diagnose things. I'll drop a message to the member closest to me as well and see if that's possible"

Your link, I suspect many of these are cheap dodgy Chinese leads + pirated VCDS software packaged into a product with nil after sale support however much they claim it exists when selling, at some cost. Sorry I am getting cynical in my old age.

Like many on here I would advocate VCDS Lite, the basic version is free to download from Ross-Tech the owners/ developers of VCDS. The basic version is functionally limited, better to then register it for £75 to upgrade it to Registered VCDS Lite, we know it works. I realise that is twice the price of your linked kit but you will then have a reliable respect diagnostic tool.


However you will have to buy an OBD lead and this can be difficult, only £5ish on eBay but many are reported to fail to connect to VCDS, other seem okay, almost seems potluck what you end up with. You could avoid this by buying from an established diagnostic tool retailer such as Gendan.

The Veepeak might turn out to be useful but as I understand it limited to engine faults and not for the other subsystems on your A2 such as the ABS system.

Lastly if you do get a free diagnostic scan post a soft copy of the results here. Do not get depressed about all the faults with your A2 that will no doubt appear!

Andy
 
Andrew said:
Yes, take note of the EML behaviour and report back.

From cold the FSI should take 10 minutes to reach 90 °C in a fairly traffic free drive, time it but watch the road!

As long as no scary flashing red thermometer with beeps appear on the dash I think there is no rush to do anything yet about the thermostat, if it does, stop and let the engine cool down for an hour, check coolant level, better than causing expensive head problems.

Andy
Click to expand...

So we went into town today for Lunch, it seems that now the EML is there to stay, it comes on at engine ignition and remains lit. Kept an eye on the temperature gauge, it gradually rises to 90°C over the course of about 10mins and stays there both on the journey to and from town.

No other warning signs or strangeness.
 
Andrew said:
Like many on here I would advocate VCDS Lite, the basic version is free to download from Ross-Tech the owners/ developers of VCDS. The basic version is functionally limited, better to then register it for £75 to upgrade it to Registered VCDS Lite, we know it works. I realise that is twice the price of your linked kit but you will then have a reliable respect diagnostic tool.


However you will have to buy an OBD lead and this can be difficult, only £5ish on eBay but many are reported to fail to connect to VCDS, other seem okay, almost seems potluck what you end up with. You could avoid this by buying from an established diagnostic tool retailer such as Gendan.
Click to expand...


Maybe this would suit my needs?


At this point, since you said it wouldn't really be a novice job to change the thermostat, I'm thinking I'll have to get it done at a local garage...
 
Jellybean said:
@ReaGeorge I have 2 FSI's, picked one up yesterday. The oil filler necks on both have movement, like yours, but it's not a job I have got round to yet!
Make sure you run on 99ron fuel, and a bottle of injector cleaner is worthwhile. Put the injector cleaner in when about 1/4 full then take ot for a good run.
One of mine is running a ProBoost ECU from @A2Steve, so am going to swap it into my latest acquisition to gauge any improvement.
I would look up gear cable setting on this forum. It's a simple job and has improved gearchanges on all my A2's. To lock the gear lever I bought a 5mm nail from BnQ!
Tyre size is fine, as long as they're all that size!
Welcome and happy motoring. Once socials resume look forward to you joining us.

Sent from my SM-N960F using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Hi @Jellybean,

If you ever get round to fixing the filler neck, a video would be appreciated ;)

What's the reason you use 99RON? I thought I read somewhere they run best on 95 do you have a link to something on this topic?

I'll have a look into the injector cleaner once I've addressed some of my other issues.

I think I saw a post on the gear setting... looked like something I could do... then I looked inside the engine bay and saw that those parts are buried under coolant tubes and such and thought it would be a bit of a hassle...

Thanks
 
Kleynie said:
Does the roof work?
Click to expand...


Well.... The previous owner said that it did work.... but one day he opened it not realising there was Ice somehow in the system and it got stuck. He closed it using the lever and didn't touch it since... So I'm hesitant to touch it either having read that they do fail after a while. I'm happy to enjoy the extra light and leave it closed I think...
 
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